Dennis Quaid sues again over twins drug overdose

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Dennis Quaid has launched another lawsuit against a drug maker over an accidental overdose of the blood-thinner Heparin that threatened the lives of his newborn twins in 2007.

The star of movies “The Rookie” and “The Big Easy” filed a second lawsuit against Baxter Healthcare Corp, a unit of Baxter International Inc, in Los Angeles Superior Court last Friday on behalf of his children.

It seeks unspecified damages and alleges the overdose was due to a mix-up over similar labels on different doses of Heparin.

Baxter said on Tuesday that Quaid had previously filed a similar lawsuit in Illinois, where the company is based, which was dismissed and upheld twice on appeal.

The case stems from 2007 when the Quaid twins were given 10,000 units of Heparin rather than the 10 units of the Hep-Lock they were prescribed to treat an infection.

The actor claimed in his new lawsuit that Baxter should have recalled the 10,000 unit vials of Heparin and warned medical providers because similar mistakes had happened previously.

Baxter said in a statement that investigations by the hospital and California health officials at the time determined that someone had not read the label on the Heparin vials.

“We feel that working together to address this issue would be more productive than continuing to litigate this matter in the courts,” spokeswoman Erin Gardner said.

Quaid, 56, and his third wife Kimberly Buffington had twins Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone via a surrogate in November 2007. Ten days after their birth they were in intensive care in a Los Angeles hospital after the accidental overdose.